The village takes its name from the Herkimer family, Palatine German immigrants who settled in the area in 1723.

The most notable family member was Nicholas Herkimer, a general of the Tryon County militia, who died from wounds received at the Battle of Oriskany in the American Revolutionary War.

The region had been part of the territory of the Iroquois Mohawk Native American people for centuries.

Refugees from religious wars in Europe, they had agreed to exchange work for passage to the New York Colony.

This was arranged by Queen Anne's government, and in 1710, nearly 2,800 Germans arrived in 10 ships at present-day Manhattan.

In exchange, they worked for some time in camps along the Hudson River to manufacture British naval supplies.

In 1722, in response to a request by the German Palatine leaders Joseph Petrie and Conrad Rickert, Governor William Burnet granted the Palatines a lease to purchase land from the Mohawk Nation in the vicinity of the confluence of West Canada Creek and the Mohawk River.

During the Revolutionary War, the town was attacked multiple times by Loyalists and Iroquois allies, as were other German settlements in the valley.

George, Catherine, and Nicholas Demuth were among children captured by the Onondaga during a raid in 1779, while they were playing outside the fort.

Although he maintained contact with his birth family, he accompanied the Onondaga and lived with them on a reservation outside Syracuse.

[4] In the early 19th century, Herkimer boasted of several whiskey distilleries and an ashery for the making of potash.

An inter-urban electric trolley traveled on railways among villages and Little Falls, Syracuse, Richfield Springs, Cooperstown, and Oneonta.

The Erie Canal, built from 1817 to 1825, also served villages and towns in the valley, carrying increased traffic and trade between the Great Lakes and the Hudson River and port of New York.

[4] Herkimer native Francis E. Spinner was treasurer of the United States during the Lincoln administration.

The village of Herkimer is located at coordinates 43°1′34″N 74°59′25″W / 43.02611°N 74.99028°W / 43.02611; -74.99028 (43.026207, -74.990304),[8] in central New York state, roughly halfway between Syracuse and Albany and 15 miles (24 km) southeast of Utica.

The Plantation Island State Wildlife Management Area, consisting of round 300 acres (120 ha) of Mohawk River floodplain, lies on the opposite shore of West Canada Creek just southeast of the village.

A smaller wildlife management area, providing access and parking for fishing on the creek, is just northeast of the village, along Shells Bush Road, across the Donald J. Mitchell Bridge from State Route 28.

The minerals formed in Cambrian-age limestone and dolomite, probably from groundwater action after the original formation of the rock in an ancient sea.

According to locals, recovering a crystal still partly embedded in a chunk of its host rock is considered lucky.

The Herkimer Originals are owned by Scott Flansburg, and have competed in the American Basketball Association since 2021.

They utilize numerous local venues including Herkimer County Community College, Notre Dame High School, and Utica University.